Jujutsu Kaisen is a Japanese manga series created by Gege Akutami. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since March 2018.
The story revolves around Yuji Itadori, a high school student who joins a secret organization of Jujutsu Sorcerers with the goal of defeating a powerful Curse named Ryomen Sukuna, who takes up residence within Yuji.
Jujutsu Kaisen is a continuation of Akutami’s previous work, Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School, which was serialized in Shueisha’s Jump GIGA magazine from April to July 2017. This earlier work was later collected into a tankōbon volume, retroactively titled Jujutsu Kaisen 0, in December 2018.
As of April 2022, the Jujutsu Kaisen manga had over 65 million copies in circulation, which includes related novels, digital versions, and Jujutsu Kaisen 0. This incredible popularity has made it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
Jujutsu Kaisen achieved an estimated 14.8 billion yen in earnings, which is approximately equivalent to 133 million USD. Despite being the driving force behind this $133 million anime franchise, screenwriter Hiroshi Seko revealed in an interview that he met the creator, Gege Akutami, only 2 to 3 times in person.
Gege Akutami’s Editor Served as an Intermediary between The Screenwriter and The Creator
The series composer and producer of Jujutsu Kaisen, Hiroshi Seko, and Hiroaki Matsutan, along with CEO of MAPPA, Manabu Otsuka, came together for an interview with Crunchyroll.
During the interview, when asked about their meeting with Jujutsu Kaisen creator Gege Akutami, composer Hiroshi Seko responded:
“I probably only met Akutami-sensei two or three times in person, but Akutami-sensei’s editor would always attend each production meeting to discuss the story. If there were any questions, he would act as the conduit to Akutami-sensei.”
Further, Matsutan added:
“We didn’t really have a fixed number of meetings with Akutami-sensei or his editor, but we would always consult with Akutami-sensei through his editor if we needed to check the accuracy of our adaptation of his original work, like with how to portray the characters and the setting. We would always ask for clarification and confirmation.”
In the interview, Seko mentioned that they had probably only encountered Akutami-sensei face-to-face on two or three occasions, but Akutami-sensei’s editor would consistently participate in every production meeting to deliberate on the story. If any queries arose, the editor would act as the go-between for Seko and Akutami-sensei.
Most Challenging Scene in Jujutsu Kaisen
At some point during the interview, when Seko was questioned about any specific scenes or chapters that posed particular challenges during the writing and adaptation process, he replied:
“There were some scenes that did not exist in the original manga, so of course, those scenes were difficult to create from scratch. Then there were a lot of scenes that we entirely composed of narration, dialogue, and description that Akutami-sensei would tell us not to use, but of course, we can’t eliminate them all, so we had to figure out how to incorporate some of the info that was described in narration into animation – usually as a monologue.”
Seko mentioned that there were certain scenes that were not present in the original manga. Consequently, these scenes presented a significant challenge when it came to creating them from scratch.
He also conveyed his gratitude for the fact that, even though these scenes depicted a more relaxed aspect of the show, the team still invested a great deal of effort in crafting them, showcasing their dedication and attention to detail. This, in turn, is likely why fans also developed a deep affection for that particular segment of the show.
Source: Crunchyroll
